What is The Forest?

The Forest is a survival based game in which you are the sole survivor of a plane crash, stranded upon some exotic island. The unfamiliar terrain is inhabited by aggressive, and possibly cannibalistic, tribesmen who have run off with what may or may not be your child, that part wasn’t entirely clear. The object of the game is to gather supplies, build yourself a home and the tools you need to survive the gruesome environment, oh also perhaps save the child? Who knows.

Gameplay

Overall I have to say Endnight Games has done a decent job with this game so far, especially considering it’s an indie game that’s still in alpha stages. In The Forest you are able to craft various tools and weapons, as well as find more modern ones scattered about from the plane crash itself. These tools help you to survive as well as provide a good deal of flavor to the game, perhaps adding a bit more immersion as you fashion a stick and rock together to make a crude ax. I don’t want to give away too much about the crafting process, but I will say there are multiple items from axes to explosive devices and Endnight Games only plan to add more.

The next topic I suppose would be building. In this game you can build many different structures or even pieces of furniture ranging from shelter, to storage, to decor like a simple bench to make your log cabin a bit more cozy. There is also a custom building section, allowing you to flex your creative juices by stringing together your own combinations of walls, windows, doors and what have you to ultimately design a base or fortress. To assist in the defense of such a structure there are traps which you can build and place strategically. At the moment, these seem a bit lack luster often missing the intended target all together, but surely this will be sorted out and given a bit more room to expand as the game reaches further into development.

As far as enemies, so far hunger, infection and the mutant tribes folk seem to be the only threats, though it sounds as though more will be added, AI will be improved and perhaps even some animal threats thrown into the mix as time goes by. Currently the AI doesn’t seem too bad in my opinion, the mutants are quite aggressive, use pack tactics, and will even drag a wounded ally off to be treated before you have a chance to finish them off if you aren’t quick enough. Apart from that some can leap from tree to tree or lunge toward you off of rocks so be careful about close encounters.

Graphics

Personally I don’t think Endnight Games has down a terrible job with the quality of the environment in this game, considering they are a small indie company and it’s still just their baby at this point. However, certainly they’re nothing too special in comparison to many bigger name games and the animations could use a lot of work. For example the explosion from one of the explosives I mentioned before, looks almost like something taken straight from a comic strip and pasted into the game with almost no frames from ignition to done. If you’re overly concerned with the graphic quality of a game, I’d perhaps suggest something else.

Overall

When all is said and done, I’d give this game a solid thumbs up, well worth the small price to help them further its development and I can’t wait to see where it goes. With it currently being single player, I’m a bit bored with its current stage, but am excited to see what’s to come in further updates and with the addition of multiplayer in the future. If you enjoy a good indie game here and there, like the feel of survival/crafting type games or just enjoy a good old fashion hack and slash fest against some half naked women, I’d recommend this game as worth your time.